Wild Florida

Leslie Peebles creates surprisingly detailed pictures carved on linoleum, made into block prints using black ink then hand colored.

Courtesy Leslie Peebles Leslie Peebles creates surprisingly detailed pictures carved on linoleum, made into block prints using black ink then hand colored.

At last year’s Artopia art auction fundraiser for Big Bend Cares, I was drawn to a pair of distinctive looking nature scenes with beautiful coloration created by Gainesville artist Leslie Peebles. Apparently lots of other folks were too, because they fetched a good price after some spirited bidding.

A few months later, local jewelry crafter Quincie Hamby was displaying Peebles’ work at her Midtown studio. Her subjects are usually Florida wildlife — alligators, woodpeckers, egrets, fish, turtles and more. I just couldn’t resist — a gator with just a hint of a smile in a print named “Welcome to Florida” came home with me.

I was able to meet Leslie at LeMoyne’s Chain of Parks Art Festival last April and enjoyed a chat about her creations. She carves out surprisingly detailed pictures on linoleum and makes a block print using black ink, the process leaving a subtle embossing on the paper. Then, she hand-colors the pictures — changing the paint shades and paper she uses from one to another so the same print can look totally different. Her work is being showcased in an exhibition named “Wild Florida: Energy + Imagination” through Sept. 30 at the gallery of the Tallahassee Museum.

While you’re there, you can see the old-time schoolhouse we used as the backdrop for our back-to-school fashion shoot on page 52, or take a skywalk at the museum’s new Tree to Tree Adventures.